On Falling

Laura Carreira’s directorial debut, produced by Ken Loach’s Sixteen Films, and named Best Film in this year’s Dublin International Film Festival by the Dublin Film Critics Circle, is a social realist film reminiscent of Loach at his best and most empathetic. Aurora (Joana Santos, outstanding) is a Portuguese migrant to Scotland, where she works as a ‘picker’ in an unnamed company’s huge fulfilment centre, preparing items ordered online for delivery. The constant pressure to meet targets has insidiously ground Aurora down, her dreams taking a back seat to her struggle to pay for basic necessities, while her increasing loneliness has infused her exhaustion with sadness. As she walks this razor’s edge, the unexpected cost of repairing her phone, her sole lifeline, points up the precarious nature of her existence. This bleak portrayal of the gig economy is exceptional, essential viewing.